Category: Community Support

E tū members at Woburn Masonic aged care home in Lower Hutt have won their application to the Employment Relations Authority for facilitated bargaining of their dispute with owners, Masonic Care Limited.

The union applied to the ERA for facilitation after members were unable to secure a collective agreement following nearly 12 months of talks, mediation and a series of strikes just before Christmas.

The members, who have likened their current rosters to the availability requirements of now illegal zero-hour contracts, want set shifts and hours as well as better sick leave, weekend pay rates, and long service leave.

Delegate Sela Mulitalo says the ERA decision in favour of facilitation is a big win and vindicates last year’s industrial action.

“This is a positive win for us, and we are hoping for a resolution. We didn’t know if we’d win it, because Masonic Care opposed it. And while we took strike action, we needed to have other channels to work through and that’s what we’ve got,” says Sela.

“What we are hoping for is just to be heard – for our truth to be heard, and our struggle, because we can’t live proper lives if we always have to be available to work.

“We just want a proper roster, that’s where we want the talks focussed, and not to be on call 24/7,” she says.

E tū organiser, Robert Ibell says facilitation is a chance for Masonic Care Limited to agree on conditions which respect the members and the work they do.

“We know it’s possible for the employer to run a roster that gives the members set shifts and set hours. Our members have already produced one.

“We are keen to work with the employer to make this a reality and to ensure these are decent jobs – people should know when they work, what shifts they work and what hours they’ll be working.”

ENDS

For further information, please contact;

Robert Ibell E tū organiser ph. 027 436 089

Robert can also provide contact details for Sela Mulitalo.

E tū caregivers strike tomorrow for a third time as they continue their fight to end their precarious hours and the 24/7 availability in case of roster changes which is required by their employer, Masonic Care Limited.

The members, who are seeking set shifts and hours, have likened their current conditions to the availability requirements of now illegal zero-hour contracts. 

The workers will be picketing outside the care home during the strike, which runs from 8.30am until 1pm.

E tū member, Mo Tonga says precarious hours are extremely challenging for caregivers like herself who have children, and she needs guaranteed hours so she can have a decent life.

“It’s difficult, being a young mum, having to try to sort out my child and work at the same time, it’s quite stressful. I could spend the times when I’m off work with my daughter, but I have to put her in day care from Monday to Friday.

“It’s a huge issue for me. I have to be available 24/7. If I don’t have enough hours in a fortnight, I have to pick up other shifts and it’s hard to plan my life around that, just having to leave my daughter to come to work. I’d love to have those set shifts just so I can plan my life properly.”

E tū organiser, Robert Ibell says the rosters undermine the intent of the equal pay settlement, which is being subverted by providers like Masonic Care Limited.

“The rosters at Woburn Masonic Village don’t give our members secure hours and a weekly income they can live on,” says Robert.

“The equal pay settlement was intended to place caregivers on a professional footing with training and pay to match but instead we are seeing hours cut, and workers on these very precarious contracts.

“For our members affected by this erosion of decent work, this is about winning rosters which give them a life and protect the care standards of the residents,” he says.

Meanwhile, the union is awaiting a response from Masonic Care Limited to its application for facilitated bargaining.

ENDS

For further information, contact:

Robert Ibell E tū organiser ph. 027 436 0089.

To speak with our delegates, please contact Robert, or Karen Gregory-Hunt, Communications Officer, ph. 022 269 1170.

The members will be picketing from 8.30am outside Woburn Masonic Village, 63 Wai-Iti Crescent, Woburn, Lower Hutt

E tū has applied to the Employment Relations Authority for facilitation of the dispute over working conditions at Woburn Masonic Village in Lower Hutt.

Workers take strike action tomorrow for a second time over guaranteed hours and a requirement by facility operator Masonic Care Limited for 24/7 availability in case of roster changes.

Our members, who are seeking set shifts and hours, have likened this to the availability requirements of now illegal zero-hour contracts. 

The workers will be picketing outside the village during the strike, which is scheduled to begin at 8.30am through until 1pm.

The application for facilitation notes the difficulty settling a collective agreement and the lengthy bargaining period. Talks were initiated over a year ago.

It details issues relating to security of hours of work and appropriate roster arrangements, as well as weekend allowances and sick leave.

“Our members are only asking for what is fair,” says E tū Director, Sam Jones.

“What they are seeking are considered standard terms and conditions across residential aged care, and they need the ability to plan their lives outside the important work they do.”

Woburn Masonic Village delegate, Sela Mulitalo supports the application for facilitation.

“It’s something we need to do,” says Sela. “Our employer hasn’t responded to our strike and it shows they’re not really keen to do anything to resolve the issues.”

Meanwhile, Sela says the members are looking ahead to tomorrow’s strike.

“They were hyped by the Tuesday strike!” says Sela. “They felt good, they felt empowered by that. They’re looking forward to tomorrow and the support we’ve had has given our members good vibes all round.

“It’s sad we are forced to take this action – our members don’t want to strike. But they have been forced into it because they don’t want to be on-call 24/7 for their part-time guaranteed hours.”

ENDS

For more information, contact:

Sam Jones E tū Director ph. 027 544 8563. To speak with our delegates, please contact Robert Ibell ph.027 436 0089 or Karen Gregory-Hunt, Communications Officer, ph. 022 269 1170.

The members will be picketing from 8.30am outside Woburn Masonic Village, 63 Wai-Iti Crescent, Woburn, Lower Hutt; also, cnr Woburn and Wai-Iti Crescent

E tū members at Woburn Masonic Village have likened their rosters to zero-hour contracts ahead of strike action from tomorrow in support of a collective agreement.

The members strike on Tuesday 3 December for half a day (4.5 hours) from 8.30am-1pm, and again at the same time on 6 December and 11 December.

The strike follows eight months of talks including last ditch mediation last week which failed to reach agreement.

E tū organiser, Robert Ibell says a key claim for members is stable shifts and hours. The employer, Masonic Care Limited has offered guaranteed hours to some members, but they would have to be available 24/7 in case of changes from roster to roster, “which is unacceptable,” says Robert.

“Masonic Village has written to residents and their families telling them they value our members, but our members don’t feel that way.

“They want certainty over their shifts and the days and hours they work. Without a decent roster, how are people supposed to organise their lives?”  

Robert says the employer offered to increase weekend rates by $1 an hour, but only if it could cut the hours of care positions to pay for it.

“That would surely compromise the quality of care for residents, and we would resist any bid to reduce our members’ hours,” says Robert.

E tū delegate, Sela Mulitalo says currently, the “guaranteed hours” at Woburn Masonic are nearly all between 20 and 64 hours a fortnight, although members can be rostered on any day at any time. 

These hours do not provide enough income to live on and workers have to look for other supplementary work. However, because they don’t know their days and hours of work from one roster to the next, they cannot make commitments to other employers.

“I do believe we have a zero hours process,” says Sela. “I am one of three caregivers guaranteed 80 hours a fortnight, but for all the other members, it’s so hard for them.

“What happens is the roster comes out and if they see spare shifts they grab them because the work might not be there next week. 

“They end up working seven days, eight days straight and they burn out and get sick. We need proper guaranteed shifts and hours,” she says.

As well as secure work and weekend rates, the members are also seeking extra sick leave and long service leave in line with that provided by most other aged care employers in the Wellington area.

ENDS

For further information, contact:

Robert Ibell E tū organiser ph. 027 436 0089. Robert can also put interested media in touch with Sela Mulitalo.

The members will be picketing during their strike:

Where: Woburn Masonic Village 63 Wai-Iti Crescent Woburn Lower Hutt; also, cnr Woburn and Wai-Iti Crescent

When: 8.30am-1pm Tuesday 3 December, 6December and 11 December.

E tū care and support members at Wellington residential care home, Woburn Masonic Village head into mediation on Thursday, in a last-ditch effort to conclude collective agreement negotiations ahead of planned strike action next week.

The members have voted to strike for 4.5 hours from 8.30am-1pm, on 3 December and again on 6 December and 11 December.

E tū organiser, Robert Ibell says talks have dragged on for almost a year and, despite several sessions with the mediator, the members and their employer, Masonic Care Limited, are nowhere near agreement.

“We meet again with the mediator on Thursday and we are hoping for an offer we can work with,” says Robert.

“So far that hasn’t been the case,” he says.

A key issue is the employer’s refusal to offer members set shifts or hours.

“This employer wants to only guarantee a certain number of hours a fortnight, but our members don’t know what those hours will be. That’s unacceptable and unworkable for our members who wouldn’t be able to plan their family time.”

Robert says members are also seeking more sick leave, weekend pay rates and recognition of long service.

“The residents value the care and personal attention they get from staff at Woburn Masonic as do their families. That isn’t reflected in management’s position in the bargaining.

“One of the key things that attracts residents to this home is the quality care they receive. The staff know they’re important, but they don’t feel valued by their employer,” Robert says.

ENDS

For more information, contact:

Robert Ibell E tū organiser, ph. 027 436 0089

The Boarding Supervisors/Matrons at Iona College in Havelock North will take strike action from this afternoon in support of a fair settlement of their pay claims.

The members will strike for 24 hours from 2.29pm today until 2.29pm tomorrow. 

E tū organiser, Thomas O’Neill says the members have been in talks to try to settle their collective agreement since November 2017.

“That’s almost two years, and the employer still won’t agree to offer them guaranteed hours or fair pay rates for the work they do,” says Thomas.

He says as well as guaranteed hours, members are seeking the same pay rates as care and support workers receive as a result of the equal pay settlement.

“It’s the same kind of work,” says Thomas. “Our members look after people. They are entrusted with the care of other people’s children, but their work is under-valued.”

The Boarding Supervisors/Matrons, including Iona College member spokesperson, Tracey Whittington say without secure hours and income, they are struggling.

“We feel undervalued and the pay rate doesn’t reflect our responsibilities or the unsociable hours we work. We all work shifts, including weekends,” says Tracey.

“We also need guaranteed hours because we lose money every time the school shuts down and that’s quite often and includes extra days on long weekends.

“I’m actually contracted to do 72 hours a fortnight, but I checked my pay recently and I haven’t been paid for that many hours since September.  

“That makes my life a struggle. I have a mortgage to pay. Most of us are sole income earners so this is important to us.”

The members say if pay is averaged out over a year, they are barely earning above the minimum wage.

“I’m lucky I have the support of my partner who receives super. A lot of these women don’t have that support and it’s very hard for them,” says Boarding Supervisor/Matron, Julia Alexander.

“Iona has offered nothing and that’s not good enough,” she says.

The members say they agreed to return to work on Thursday, so they are available to support the students ahead of their first NCEA exams which start the following day.

However, they say if there is no progress, they are prepared to strike again at a later date.

Thomas says care work at boarding schools used to be viewed as charitable work, and that attitude seems to still prevail at Iona College.

“Their employer has behaved very badly for a school that promotes women’s rights. The pay and conditions reflect a belief that the members don’t need secure work, that someone else can help them pay the bills.

“It’s actually strange to see these 19^th century attitudes coming from an all-girls’ school.”

ENDS

For more information, contact:

Thomas O’Neill E tū organiser ph. 027 204 6350 – Thomas is the contact for media seeking interviews with our members.

The E tū and IDEA Services Support Workers Collective Agreement has been ratified by a vote of 83% in favour. This agreement was achieved by the fantastically committed and hardworking bargaining team delegates who can be truly proud of the way that they represented the E tū members interests over a period of 11 months, as well as all members who engaged in the process, attended meetings, and took industrial action.

Ratification is the just the beginning of an exciting year ahead as we work to achieve more funding in the disability sector and put in place a great plan of activities designed to win better lives for workers and consumers in the disability sector.

What’s in the deal?

• Pay increases for Administrators and Service Coordinators with 5.5% backdated and a further 2% from 23 October 2019.
• Scheduling Coordinators being covered by the Collective agreement for the first time with a 2% increase from 23 October 2019.
• A new allowance of up to $70 per week for RIDSAS workers.
• Specialist orientation for all staff working in RIDSAS.
• Specialist training and clinical supervision for RIDSAS staff within six months of the agreement being ratified and regular updates to the union.
• A new on-call allowance of $150 (gross) which will increase if the SM payment increases.
• A process to remove SSW duties from support workers, a 50 cents per hour allowance for designated SSWs until those duties are removed, and two buy-out payment based on agreed criteria. These members will also be fast tracked through the Level 4 training, which provides for a pay increase of up to $2.50 per hour.
• New scheduling clauses for unplanned situations including mileage and paid time, orientation and paid time to prepare in some cases, updates on equipment and support needs, overtime if you are left with people you’re not orientated to support, and a review process if you think these provisions are being misused. 
• A two-year term expiring in October 2020 – so we’re back in bargaining in a year.
• An agreement to work together with IDEA to lobby for more funding to address issues in the sector.

What do the bargaining team delegates say about the deal?

The union bargaining team endorses the outcomes that have been achieved as being all that is possible in the current environment and look forward to working with all the parties to achieve a better funded sector.

What does this mean for SSWs?

Any member who thinks they are a designated SSW or undertaking SSW duties under the agreed criteria will have until 22 November to make an application to be part of the buy-out and a further four weeks to provide evidence to verify they qualify.

Delegates will be released on pay to meet with support workers and help them make their applications for this process and put together the evidence needed. This will probably happen at facility meetings soon, so watch out for those. E tū has produced a template application form to make this easy for you.

Meanwhile, the new scheduling changes will not take effect for three months after the agreement is signed off. E tū will distribute flyers and info cards summarising your rights around these, so you have the information readily available if you need it.

Joint lobbying for more funding

E tū and IDEA have agreed to join forces to lobby the Government for more disability sector funding. We will want you to be actively involved in this work as your voice and your stories will make a difference. The goal is to make sure any government elected in November 2020 prioritises the under-funding of disability services, so money is available when we bargain again in a year’s time.